Banning guns is no more likely to reduce suicides than banning ice cream is to curb obesity. – Steve Chapman

The sad truth is that some people are determined to end their lives, and removing one of the available methods will not cause a significant reduction in suicides. Even assuming that there are a few cases where not having a gun delayed someone long enough that they snapped out of it completely (as opposed to a delay,) the cost in lost lives due to crime is an unacceptable price to pay. 

The reason that a person uses a gun to commit suicide is they want to die. Someone intent on killing themselves is going to find a way to do it. To prevent suicide (or crime for that matter,) we need to address the causes and the people, not the instruments. Just as criminals use other weapons (like knives,) suicidal people have many other options available. Since we would be unable to ban all the methods a person might use, we need to look at options to address the root problem. I don’t have a sound bite solution to suicide or crime, but the evidence is that gun control does not work

Hat tip Joe Huffman